Twitter to remove 'legacy' blue checkmarks from April 1

Twitter Blue is available for a monthly fee of Rs 650 on the web and Rs 900 on mobile devices in India (Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)

Twitter announced on March 24 that it will begin removing legacy blue checkmarks from user accounts on April 1, as the company winds down it's legacy verified programme in a subscription push.

This move comes as the Elon Musk-owned social media firm expands its subscription programme Twitter Blue across the world.

To be sure, this move has been on the cards for sometime with Musk mentioning in a tweet in December 2022 that they will remove all legacy blue checks in a few months. "The way in which they were given out was corrupt and nonsensical" he said.

Twitter had relaunched its subscription programme Twitter Blue in December 2022, that offered users a verified blue checkmark and a host of other features for $8 per month.

The service launched in India on February 8, available for a monthly fee of Rs 650 on the web and Rs 900 on mobile devices.

On February 18, Twitter also announced plans to restrict SMS-based two-factor authentication mode to Twitter Blue subscribers.

Users who intend to retain their blue checkmarks on Twitter after April 1, need to sign up for Twitter Blue subscription, the company said. Prior to this change, Twitter had about 420,000 verified accounts.

Brands and organisations will have to sign up for a significantly pricier 'Verified for Organisations' programme that starts offering subscriptions at $1,000 per month.

These accounts will receive a gold checkmark and square avatar if they are a business or non-profit.

Organisations can also choose to affiliate any individual or entity associated with them for an additional $50 per month per affiliate account.

An affiliated account receives the verification mark as well as an affiliate badge (a small image of their parent company's profile picture) displayed next to their checkmark.

These moves comes as Twitter looks to ramp up it's monetisation efforts and diversify its revenue sources.

Musk faces a massive challenge to turn around the debt-laden company by revving up its revenues. It also comes amid a continued slowdown in the online advertising market due to the global economic downturn which has severely impacted the revenue growth of advertising-dependent internet firms such as Twitter, Meta, Alphabet and Snap.

Twitter Blue is one of the company's key initiatives to diversify its revenue streams beyond advertising. In November 2022, Musk had told employees that he wants at least half of the company's revenue to come from subscriptions, thereby reducing the social media firm's reliance on advertising.